Buying a home with no regrets

It's routine for buyers to hire a home inspector to scour a property for flaws that could haunt them later.

Too bad there's no one to inspect a buyer's financial decisions.

Indeed, home buying is shaped by such a complex set of emotion-laden choices that the term "buyer's remorse" is a common complaint among new homeowners.

Whether it is a cool or hot market, buyers can feel they've overpaid, overstretched their budget or overlooked their needs, experts say. ...

Logic dictates that wider choice should delight buyers intent on finding the "perfect" house.

That's logic, not human nature.

"Do something in advance to limit your choice," says Leonard Green, professor of psychology at Washington University, St. Louis.

Say, for instance, you want a three-bedroom house close to a school, but you find a five-bedroom place farther out that's been reduced to your price range. Visiting that property will just bewilder you and increase your chance of remorse, Green says.

•	Buying a home with no regrets FINANCING Chicago Tribune, Sunday, Jan. 21, 2007 Byline: Marilyn Kennedy Melia, Special to the Tribune